Body-encircling undergarment



Jul 28, 1936. G. A. BARCLEY BODY ENCIRGLING UNDERGARMENT Filed Nov. 2'7,1934 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 E N R O Filed Nov. 27, 1934 3 Sheets-Sheet 2ATTORNEY G. A. BARCLEY I BODY EN CIRCLING UNDERGARMENT July 28, 1936.

Filed Nov. 27, 1954 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 ATTORNEY Patented July 28, 1936STATES TENT OFFICE 2 Claims.

This invention relates in general to body encircling garments and moreparticularly, to corsets, brassieres, girdles and combination garments.

It being necessary that such garments accurately fit the figure,adjustments are frequently necessary to vary the circumference orgirthwiserdimension of the garment as well as to shape thegarment toconform to the figure. In garments as they are generally constructed,the making of these adjustments is difiicult and time consuming,requiring considerable disassembling of the garment and ripping ofseams, as well as cutting and trimming the garment sections; andtherefore it is found necessary frequently to return the garments to thefactory for the making of adjustments after the required measurementshave been taken by the fitter or the corsetiere. These difficulties areespecially troublesome in fitting garments to deformed or assymetricalfigures where one side of the figure is of different contour than theother side. Moreover, it is often necessary to makeunsightly darts inthe garment to effect the adjustments which seriously detract from theappearance of the garment; and entire new sections for the garmentarelfrequently necessary where the garment has tobe made larger.

It is highly desirable that such garments be so constructed that theseadjustments can be easily and quickly made by the corsetiere or even bythe owner of the garment, without the necessity for disassembling of thegarment or cutting or trimming of sections thereof, and therefore oneobject 'of'my invention is to provide a garment of ,the generalcharacter described embodying novel and improved construction andcombination of parts whereby the girthwise or circumferential dimensionof the garment as well as its shape may be adjusted either or both sidesby simply removing'a few stitches and relatively moving juxtaposedsections of the garment to make the adjustment and then restitching thesections together. Other objects of the invention are to provide such agarment wherein the adjustments can be made on the exterior of thegarment, and thus to provide a garment consisting of two main sectionshaving their ends in overlapping relation 'so that the ends of onesection constitute flaps or tabs underneath the end portions of theother section formed of the same material as the sections themselves andthe two sections 'may be adjusted relatively to each other withoutdetracting from the appearance of the garment andwithout evidence exceptto the expert eye that any adjustment has been made; and to obtain otheradvantages and results as will be brought out by the followingdescription. Referring to the accompanying drawings inwhich'corresponding and like parts are designated throughout the severalviews by the same reference characters,

Figure l is a front perspective view of a combination corset andbrassiere embodying my invention.

Figures 2, 3, 4 and 5 are horizontal sectional views on the lines 2-2,3--3, 4-4, and 55 respectively of Figure 1.

Figure 6 is a front perspective view of a. girdle embodying theinvention. 5

Figure 7 is a schematic plan view of the girdle shown in Figure 6illustrating the manner of making the girthwise adjustments of thegarment and Figure 8 is a rear perspective view of a brassiere 2oembodying the invention.

Specifically describing the embodiment of the invention illustrated inFigure 1 the garment comprises a main or body section A formed ofsuitable material to partially encircle the body and may be ofpredetermined fixed or non-adjustable circumferential length having itsends I in spaced relation. As shown, a diaphragm or abdominal support 2is secured between the end portions l by lacing 3 in the usual manner.Secured to the exterior of the end portions of the body section A is aclosure or front section B Which may be of predetermined fixed ornonadjustable length and has its ends flexible from its top edge to thebottom edge and stitched to the body section A as indicated at 4.Preferably the section B is formed of two parts 5 and 6 which have theiradjacent edges separably connected as by hooks and eyes I.

The upper portion of the front section B constitutes a brassiere whilethe lower portion constitutes a corset, and preferably the brassiereportion has the bust pockets 8 formed of pieces separate from the lowerportion of the front section and separately secured to the body sectionA by spaced side-by-side lines of stitches 4.

' It will thus be seen that the end portions l of the body section Aform in effect fiaps underlying the front or closure section B, andthese flaps are formed of the same material as the body section. The endportions of the front section B simply overlie the exterior of the mainsection A fiatwise and in a plane approximately parallel thereto and aresecured thereto by the simple lines of stitches 4 that extend from topto bottom of the 55 garment so that the front section can be'easilydisconnected from the main section by removing 4 and slide the endportions of the front section toward the extremities I of the bodysection, and then restitch the end portions of the front section to thebody section; while to reduce the circumference dimensions of thegarment the end portions of the front section :B will be moved away fromthe extremities of the body section. In Figure! these adjustments areschematically illustrated, the heavy solid lines indicating the mediumcircumferential dimensions of the gar ment while the light, and heavydotand dash lines indicate respectively theadjustments to increase anddecreasethe circumferential dimensions ofthe garment. It should beunderstood that these adjustments can be-made throughout the length ofthe garment or at only certain points in the length of the garment, andby making the adjustments at certain points, it will be understoodthatthe shape of the garment may be varied; for example, the hip.dimensions may be increased or decreased without varying the waistdimensions, or the waist dimensions may beincreased or decreased withoutvarying the hip or bust dimensions or the bust dimensions may be 7increased or decreased without varying the waist or hip dimensions.tions with the separate sections Band securing them to the body sectionA with the lines of stitches 4 greatly facilitates the rather difficultadjustments of the bust portion relative to the waist and hip portions;o

' It will be observed that all of the above mentioned adjustments can"be madewithout materially affecting the'appearance'of the garment,because the end portions or flaps I of the. body section are of the samematerial as the body section, and noripping or tearing of material isnecessary in removing the lines of'stit'ches 4. Also, all of theadjustments can be made at either or both sides of the garment, withoutcutting or trimming of anysections'of thegarment, and without thenecessity of' forming unsightly darts, tucks and the like. Theflexibility-of the end "edges of-the sections permits easy and differentadjustments at diiferent points along said edges which would not be.possible if the edges were stiffened as by stays or lacingdevices,.and.the fine adjustment or fitting of the garment made possibleby the invention eliminates the necessity for'additional adjustingmeans, such aslacings or straps, and thereby'avoids the puckering oftheedges of the garment. and discomfort to the wearer which arises fromsuch adjusting means. The cost of thegarmentis also reduced. Thesections are not connected except by the stitches 1l0,- so'that whenthe.stitches are iremoved the edges, of the front section are free andtherefore doubling or, foldingof the material in making the adjustmentsis. obviated which makes it possible to effectdifierent adjustments atdifferent points along the edgesof the front section with- ,outhindrance from relative adjustmentiand wrinkling voffolded superposedplies. of. material.

Theforming of the bust por- It will be observed that the end portions ofthe body section provide convenient means for attaching the abdominalsupport to the garment, although of course the abdominal support may beomitted if desired, and the attachment of the .belt to the ends of thebody section make it possible to adjust the girthwise dimensions andshape of the garment without affecting the connection of the belt to thegarment.

Figure 6 of the drawings illustrates a corset or g'irdleembodying theinvention. The structure of the garment is similar to that shown inFigure l with the exception that no brassiere portion is included nor isthere any abdominal support although one could be included if desiredThe garment includes the main section C preferably of predetermined andnon-adjustable length and front or closure section D preferably ofpredetermined and non-adjustable length which has its edges secured tothe body section on the exterior thereof by-lines of stitches 10 so thatthe end portions I l of the main section underlie the front section andconstitute adjusting flaps. The front section is preferably formed oftwo parts 12 and I3 which are separably connectedby hooks 1 and eyesldto facilitate application and removal of the garment to and from thebody. J The'inv'ention may also be embodied in brassieres as shown inFigure 8. Here the garment comprises a bodyv section E preferably ofpredetermined and non-adjustable length which is formed in two partsseparably connected at the rear by hooks and eyes i5 with its endportions 16 underlying the front section I! which is pref erably ofpredetermined and non-adjustable length and formed in one piece'and hasits longitudinal edges connected to the main section by lines ofstitchesat l8. .It will be understood that the adjustments can be 'madein the garments shown in Figures Sand 8 in the same manner as describedin connection with the garment shown inFig urel." v i While I have shownthe'inventionas embodied V in certain types of garments, it should beunderstood'that thisis primarily for the purpose of illustrating theprinciples of the invention and that the invention may be embodiedinrother types of garments without departing from the 1 spirit or scopeof the invention. Furthermore, while I have illustrated the garments asformed 'with elasticstrips and gores I 9 and 20 respeclying one end ofthe body section on the outer side thereof, and removablelines ofstitches penetrating both sections and extending from the top edge tothe bottom edge of the front section at a points spaced from the ends ofthe body section so that the ends of the-body section form loose tabsextending from the top edge to the bottom edge of the'garment at eachside-thereof beneath the front section, and an abdominal belt havingeach end adjustably connected to one of saidtabs, whereby thecircumferential dimensions of the garment may be varied at any desiredpoint from top to bottom of'the garment and'at either or. both" sidesthereof without affecting'the con nection of said belt to the bodysection, by merely removing said stitches at the desired point, slidingthe end portions of the two sections relative to each other andrestitching the sections together.

2. A womans body supporting undergarment comprising a section topartially encircle the body with its top edge wholly below the shouldersand its ends in spaced relation, and a second section, one of saidsections having each end overlying one end of the other section and allportions of the overlapping ends being in parallel planes and freelyflexible in their own planes throughout their lengths, and a pluralityof lines of stitches in spaced side-by-side relation penetrating saidoverlapping end portions of both sections in planes perpendicular to theplanes of the overlapping ends of the sections and extending from thetop edges to the bottom edges of the sections at points spaced from theends of the underlying section to fixedly connect said overlapping ends,whereby the ends of one section form loose tabs extending from the topedge to the bottom edge of the garment at each side thereof beneath theother section and the circumferential dimensions of the garment may bevaried at one or more desired points from top to bottom of the garmentand at either or both sides thereof so as to accurately conform to thecurves of the body by merely removing said stitches at the desiredpoint, sliding the end portions of the two sections relative to eachother and restitching the sec-

